County manager survives no-confidence vote

By Chris Lavender / Times-News

Published: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 04:22 PM.

Smith said he is satisfied with Honeycutt’s job performance and supports him. Smith, elected to the board in November, pointed to the fact that he has been a county commissioner for a short time. Smith said he has no reason for wanting to fire Honeycutt and voted against the no confidence motion because he believes Honeycutt is doing a good job overall.

The commissioners began to discuss Honeycutt’s job performance during a closed session on June 10 but decided to postpone the discussion until the meeting on Monday, Smith said.

Manning declined on Wednesday to comment on what occurred during the closed session this week since it is a personnel matter. Manning said he is satisfied with Honeycutt’s job performance.

Massey said on Wednesday she is aware that Lashley doesn’t like Honeycutt but doesn’t know why he wants the manager fired. Massey said she was asked by Lashley sometime during the past month if she would support terminating Honeycutt’s employment with the county.

“I don’t know what he has done or a reason to fire him,” Massey said. “He has done a lot to help us out.”

Sutton said he hopes the board and Honeycutt can learn and move forward after the failed no confidence vote. Sutton said the vote was designed to serve as a warning.

Hook said Honeycutt’s latest job performance evaluation was conducted in March. Hook said the county could not release the review since it wasn’t part of the employee personnel file made available to the public. Sutton said the review was positive regarding Honeycutt’s performance which includes input from the commissioners.

GRAHAM — County Manager Craig Honeycutt survived a no confidence vote by the Alamance County Board of Commissioners this week during a closed session.

The closed session was held on Monday with Commissioners Tim Sutton and Bill Lashley voting no confidence in Honeycutt’s job performance while Commissioners Tom Manning and David Smith voted against the motion. Commissioner Linda Massey was not present. With a 2-2 vote, the no confidence motion failed to pass.

Lashley said Wednesday he isn’t satisfied with Honeycutt’s job performance, citing Honeycutt’s financial management of the county and said he is concerned that Honeycutt didn’t notify the commissioners sooner about allegations of missing funds at the Alamance County Tax Department. The county Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation earlier this month to determine if any crimes were committed at the tax department.

Lashley said he had discussed his dissatisfaction with Honeycutt prior to the closed session with the commissioners to see if there would be enough support to fire him. Honeycutt was hired as county manager on April 6, 2009 and his current salary is $115,000.

Sutton said Wednesday he doesn’t want to terminate Honeycutt’s employment because he doesn’t want the county to have to pay employee severance. According to County Human Resources Director Sherry Hook, Honeycutt’s contract requires he be paid six months’ salary in severance if his employment is terminated.

Sutton said he wasn’t pleased with how Honeycutt worked with Orange County officials over the past few years to revise the boundary line between Orange and Alamance counties and also expressed his opposition to property tax rate increases that have been recommended by Honeycutt during the last two budget cycles.

Smith said Wednesday that questions surrounding Honeycutt’s job performance had been raised over the last 10 days. Smith said he had discussed the issue with Lashley prior to the closed session on Monday.

Smith said he is satisfied with Honeycutt’s job performance and supports him. Smith, elected to the board in November, pointed to the fact that he has been a county commissioner for a short time. Smith said he has no reason for wanting to fire Honeycutt and voted against the no confidence motion because he believes Honeycutt is doing a good job overall.

The commissioners began to discuss Honeycutt’s job performance during a closed session on June 10 but decided to postpone the discussion until the meeting on Monday, Smith said.

Manning declined on Wednesday to comment on what occurred during the closed session this week since it is a personnel matter. Manning said he is satisfied with Honeycutt’s job performance.

Massey said on Wednesday she is aware that Lashley doesn’t like Honeycutt but doesn’t know why he wants the manager fired. Massey said she was asked by Lashley sometime during the past month if she would support terminating Honeycutt’s employment with the county.

“I don’t know what he has done or a reason to fire him,” Massey said. “He has done a lot to help us out.”

Sutton said he hopes the board and Honeycutt can learn and move forward after the failed no confidence vote. Sutton said the vote was designed to serve as a warning.

Hook said Honeycutt’s latest job performance evaluation was conducted in March. Hook said the county could not release the review since it wasn’t part of the employee personnel file made available to the public. Sutton said the review was positive regarding Honeycutt’s performance which includes input from the commissioners.

Honeycutt said on Wednesday he has done his best to provide leadership for county staff and for the county since becoming manager. Honeycutt said it isn’t an easy job and that during budget season people often have differences of opinion.

Honeycutt said his job is to make recommendations on the budget and general policy and it is up to the commissioners whether to accept or reject them. He said he hopes the commissioners will continue to bring their concerns to him regarding things that they believe haven’t been done well and together they can fix the problems and move on to best serve the community.